Pactimo Brand Ambassadors and Misc.

Pactimo made their announcement, and sadly I didn't make the list. Oh well, maybe next year. They had ~1800 people register for just 25 positions. The full announcement and the list of ambassadors can be found at Pactimo Brand Ambassador Program. Pactimo did provide a consolation gift, of a non-transferable discount on a future order, which is a pretty good deal.

This coming week, on Mon, Feb, 24th,  I'll be the substitute/guest yoga teacher at Soleil Lune Yoga Center for the 7:15PM Yoga for Stiff Folks who Ride Spokes class (FYI this class is full, so no Drop-in slots are available).

Training continues indoors (as it's still cold and icy/snowy around here) for my summer list of rides in Wisconsin's Iowa County's Drift-less Area: Horribly Hilly Hundreds, Dairyland Dare and The Wright Stuff.

25 Random Things about me (#1 - #5)

I recently got tagged with the task of coming up with 25 random; things, facts, habits, or goals about myself. Here are the first 5 of 25.

01- I started doing some serious yoga a little over a year ago and enjoy it very much.

02- My interest in biking re-started several years ago as a way to improve my health, now it's a passion (or is it obsession?).

03- I have drawings I did for an art class of a clamshell "communicator" / cellphone in ~1979, several years before the StarTAC was introduced.





04- I grew up on a farm in West-Central Illinois.

05- I enjoy cooking and baking, which I owe to my Mom for letting me help with baking as a kid.

More to follow...

RyJax: week two

This weeks RyJax session (see previous post about RyJax) was pyramid endurance intervals on the bike followed by yoga stretching and relaxation. Which was then followed by Hot Chocolate and a scone at the coffee shop next door.

Spinning and Yoga = RyJax

As a Changeup to my Winter exercise routine I signed up for a class called RyJax, at Transition, for the month of November. RyJax is a combination of bicycling (on CompuTrainers) for an hour and then an hour of yoga. I had the first class today and I would highly recommend it. It really lets you focus on your breathing and how it relates to improving your fitness with a "mind-body" connection.

For that first hour we practiced different pedaling technique as well as proper yoga breathing as well. We had a short 5-10 minute break in between to get the bikes moved out, change clothes and get the yoga mats in place. I've done some yoga on my own, but it's very different when there are other people around and a yogi to direct and correct the various positions.

I'm also using the results of my VO2max test to improve my training with the use of my HR monitor. For instance today during the cycling, we were trying to stay in Zone 2 (for me that's between 148 - 154 BPM). If it wasn't for the VO2max testing, I'd probably just be using a calculated HR based on age.

Last weekend was the last scheduled ride for our bicycle club. Sundays ride was fairly long (~52 miles) and it turned out to be a beautiful day. Some of it was familiar, following some of the same roads as the Pedal the Kettle ride and other parts were on some roads "less traveled" by our usual club rides, going as far south west as Mukwonago, WI.

Safe riding all